More advice on a hung parliament

Your front-page story (26 April) misunderstands the constitutional conventions in saying that "the prime minister should be allowed to try to form a government first". The incumbent prime minister stays in office after the election and is entitled to meet the new parliament and test whether his government still commands confidence. But other parties are perfectly entitled to negotiate with each other to see whether they can form an alternative government.

If the Lib Dems choose to negotiate first with the Conservatives, they are free to do so. Brown has no right of first refusal when it comes to negotiating with other parties. He only has the right to present the first Queen's speech. If it becomes apparent before then that his government will be defeated, he may choose to resign first. The new cabinet manual states that he should not resign until it is clear who can command confidence in his place.

• If the prime minister concludes he is not able to secure a majority, his constitutional duty is to seek to ascertain whether any other MP does have such support and to recommend to the Queen that she should invite that person to form a government. Only if he believes that there is no such person is he entitled to try to win a vote on the Queen's speech and govern as a minority. His constitutional job is to make sure the Queen does not have to take any political decision and to "look after the shop" while the transition to a new government takes place.